Apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum.



PATBNTED MAY-19, 1903'.

m. LIVINGSTON. I APPARATUS FQRGONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING PETROLEUM.

5 APPLIOATIOR'IILED 4H6. B, 1901.

ETS-SHEET 1.

I0 IoDnL.

y WITNESSES: Mm?

INVENTOR;

No. 723,257. PATBNTED 1MAY19, 1-903.

- I M. LIVINGSTON. v APPARATUS FOR GONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING PETROLEUM.

APPLICATION rmm me. e, 1901. no 110021.. 4 sums-sum y' N- ff LLNVENTOR:

.No. 728,257 PATENTBD MAY19,1'90 3. I

' M. LIVINGSTON. 7 APPARATUS FOR OONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING PETROLEUM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1901.

no 101521.. 4 snnMs-snn'r s.-

Hcz4 j PATENTED MAY 19,1903.

v No. 728,257.

M. LIVINGSTON. APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING PETROLEUM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1901.

4 SHEETS-BHEET 4- i0 MODEL.

WITNESSES:

- INVENTOR UNITED STATES PA-TENT" Patented May'19, 1903.

OF ICE.

/ MAX LIVINGSTON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ATLANTIC REFINING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVA- NIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR CO NTINUOUSLY DlSTILLING PETROLEUM.

SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent N 0. 728,257, dated May 19, 1903.

Application filed August 8, 1901. Serial No. 71,333. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, MAX LIVINGSTON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Continuously Distilling Petroleum, of which the following is a specific-a}:

tion.

tus and its object is theprovision of a simple, safe, economical, and efficient apparatus in which the distillation of crude petroleum may be carried on as a continuous operation.

In the accompanying drawings I show, and herein l describe, a good form of apparatus embodying my invention, the particular subject-matter claimed as novelbeinghereinafter definitely specified.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a view in top plan of a battery of stills arranged in accordance with a good.

form of my invention.

Figure 2 is a view in front elevation of the stills shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view in elevation of a series Figure 7 is a detail of one of said short con- 40 nections.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the initial distillation of the crude petroleum under the existing usual practice, the operation is carried onuntil all the lighter oils have been vaporized, leaving the residuum to be subjected to subsequent independent operations.

Myinve'ntion has especiahalthough not re- My invention relates to distilling appara-' strictive, relation to this initial distillation of crude petroleum, and it is sought to enable said distillation to be carried on in as economical and efficient a manner as possible -receptacles,according to their character, for

further operations. The number of such receptacles and the sub-division or classification of the condensed vapors according to their grades or characteristics, may be extended as far as may be desired, and to such end any required number, large orsmall, of

stills and condensate receptacles may be emj ployed.

In the drawings, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, are the stills of a series, shown as arranged side by side, on a foundation of masonry. 36, which embodies a series of fire chambers 12, one situated beneath each still. Each still, with its fire chamber, is structurally independent of every other, except for the connections hereinafter described. Each still is preferably formed as a cylindrical vessel of sheet iron, and placed upon its side across the top of its associated fire chamber.

At the back of the fire chambers of the first two stills of the series after No. 1, are arranged up-takes 13, Fig. 5, discharging into a series of lines 14 which extend through the bodies of said'stills Nos. 2 and 3, and discharge within the smoke boxes 15 each of which is common to the group of dues of a single still, from which boxes lead suitable smoke stacks.

The remaining stills of the series maybe provided at the backs of thefire chambers veyers for the products of combustion, by which the latter aredischarged atany suitable pointor utilized in any desired'manner, the does 14, as stated, not being ordinarily used in such remaining stills of the series.

The passage of the smoke and products of combustion through the flues within the bod-.

. 9 with any suitable smoke stacks or other conies of the stills Nos. 2 and 3, of course, aids in elevating the temperature of the oil in said stills and thus economizes fuel.

16 are vapor pipes leading from the stills, and through which the vapors or distillates are conducted to suitable condensers and collecting tanks, (not shown). Still number 1 which is what I term the preparatory still, is provided with an internal steam or other heating coil 17 (see Figure 4), the supply and discharge pipes 18 of which pass through the shell of the still, and through which coil is charged steam or hot fluid from any suitable source.

In practice I may supply said coil 17 with exhaust steam. Said coil 17 may, of course, be arranged in any desired manner. It is preferably arranged with its pipes separated from each other by suitable interspaces to allow the free precipitation of earthy matter contained in the oil, and may be supported by any suitable frame work such as shown in Figure 3.

Referring now to the pipe connections, and especially to the construction shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4E, and 5, each pipe connection connective of two adjoining stills, and which connections are herein termed the short connections, is as to the portion of it which exists outside of the stills, of approximately U- shaped form, to constitute a suitable trap, such U-shaped portion being designated 19, and from the respective side members of such portion 19, branches lead to the interior of the two stills connected, such branches, (especially the inlet or receiving branches, that is to say the branches into which the oil fiows as it enters the short connections,) being provided within the respective stills with elbows 20 to which regulating sections, as I term them, 21, may be fitted and secured. As indicated in the several figures said regulating sections 21 are in screw threaded connection with the pipe elbows 20, from which they may be unscrewed as desired.

The short connections, located at the rear of the stills, to wit, the ends thereof appearing in plan view at the upper edge of Figure 1 are preferably provided with cocks or valves, by which the flow of oil through them may be shut off when desired. Those located at the front ends of the stills are preferably not so provided.

22, 23, and 24, are what I term long connections, arranged, in the embodiment illustrated, to connect respectively stills 7 and 10, 5 and 8, and 3 and 6. Except for being proportionately longer, the long connections are shown as of substantially the same construction as the short connections described.

26 is a pump connected by the pipe 25 with pump 28, by which the petroleum is charged to the preparatory still.

30 is a steam supply pipe having a branch 31 leading to the bottom of still N0. 2, to assist in heating the oil in said still. If desired branches from said pipe 30 may lead to the other stills of the series. I

The operation of the apparatus will be readily understood.

The oil, as is well known, frequently contains more or less earthy matter, and a small percentage of water, and I, therefore, equip the first or preparatory still with the heating coil, as described, to the end that the oil charged into said still may, as it passes about the pipes of the coil be acted upon throughout its body by the heat radiating therefrom, so that the water will be thoroughly separated from the oil and the earthy matter precipitated.

Any suitable cock controlled outlet 29 is provided for drawing off the water and the precipitated earth from the bottom of the said preparatory still.

Incidental to the treatment of the oil in the first still Vapor will be formed, which will, of course, pass of through the vapor pipe 16. The oil itself, freed from water and earthy matter, passes continuously from the preparatory still into still number 2, wherein it is heated and the lighter ingredients vaporized, the vapor passing out through the vapor pipe 16 of said still No. 2. From still number 2 the oil continuously passes through the short connection to still number 3 wherein it is subjected to a suitable degree of heat and certain of its constituents vaporized, the portion not vaporized at the temperature maintained in said still number 3 passing through the short connection to still number 4, and so on.

The height of the receiving months or openings of the regulating pipes 21 of the connections 19 through which the oil from the individual stills passes into such connections and the succeeding stills, controls, of course, the liquid level in the several stills. Therefore, by providing the elbows 20 at the receiving sides of the connections 19 with regulating sections 21 of suitable length, I may maintain the liquid level within the several stills at any desired graduated elevations. This feature is of great importance.

By arranging said liquid receiving mouths of the several connections at successively lower levels in the series of stills the liquid will be caused to flow by gravity through the series without requiring the aid of a pump or other artificial assistance.

The feature of preserving a graduated liquid level in the stills is, furthermore, of great importance with respect to those stills which receive the heavier oils after the lighter oils have been vaporized. When, for example, the oil has passed through the first few stills of the series, and approximately fifty per cent. of its mass has been vaporized, the oil remaining requires special operations to secure the best results.

It is desirable that the distillation shall be carried on in such manner as will occasion the production of a satisfactory quality of distillates and at'the sametime avoid impairing the quality of the residuum.

Accordingly,when the oil hasbeen reduced by the vaporization of approximately half its mass it is desirable in operating upon it in the remaining stills that the cubic space above the surface of the liquid in the stills should be very large and'that the wall or walls of said still or stills should be remote from the direct action of the fire.

By reason of the high heat to which the oil.

is subjected, the vapors produced in a given still in the vicinity of the latter end of the series, may include not only the particular vapors which it is desired to produce by the vaporization of the oilsin said still, but also a certain amount of the heavier products or constituents which it is desirable to have re-: tained in the residuum, and said heavier. products or constituents would, in the ab sence of special provision to the contrary,

pass out through the vapor pipe from said. still, with the result that the vapor so passing out would" not be of required quality, and the mass of residuum which is received in and is pumped from the last still of the series for further operations inother apparatus, would be deprived of valuablecharacteristics. Accordingly, in operating upon such oil I prefer to maintain only such quantity of it v in a still as will fill it about one third full,so

that large vapor spaces above the liquid levels exist in the last stills of the series.

7 The vapors formed rise in such vapor spaces and circulate through them and about them and in contact withtheupper walls of the stills, which are, as stated, out of contact with the fire, with the result that such of the heavier products naturally belonging in the residuum as are carried up into the vapor spaces referred to, will, in circulating about therein, becoming slightly cooler, fall back into the liquid and be transported to the next still and so on. I

The operation of distilling is designed to becarried on in this apparatus until a heavy residuum remains, and this residuum "is pumped from the laststill'or last several stills and conveyed away for special operations, among which are included operation's for sep arating it into sundry valuable products.

' When, after continued use ofthe'appara tus one or two of the stills have accumulated a depositof coke, and it is desired to clean them, this may be done without interruption as will be readily understood. 7

If, for example, it'is desired to clean out stills numbers6 and'7, lhecocks in the two short connections 19, between stills 5and 6 of the operation of the apparatusas a whole,

' and/7 and 8 respectively are to be closed.

thereupon said stills 6 and 7 are, so to speak, out out and isolated.

The cocks in the long connection 23 are opened. Thereupon in the operation of the 'fromits contents.

they terminate.

apparatus, the liquid from the still 5 instead of dischargingthrough the connectionli) into still 6, discharges through said long connection 23 past stills 6 and 7,'and "into still8,

and from still Sintojstill 9 an'd so on.

When the con nection is established'thro'ugh the connection 23 as will be understood,the

stills6 and 7, are no longer included in the.

When the oil in said stills has become heated to a high temperature and theliquidlevels therein are approximately the" levels'at which the oil is ordinarily maintained in said stills I open the cooks in the two shortconnections by which saidtwo stills are connected to the two adjoining stills and close' the cocks in the long connection.

Y It will, of course, be understood that the" oil is continuously supplied tolthe preparatory still, and that its flow through the su cessive stillsis ordinarilycontinuous'."

The vaporization contemporaneously pro ceeds in 'all the stills oft-he sejries'as the oil TOO flows through them, each sti'll 'being main 1 tained at that particular heat which eXperience has demonstrated to be bestiadapted forproducing the particular 'distilliate'obtainable From thesingle battery of stills a constant flow of distillate is maintained 'through'iall the distillate pipes to the receptacles in which The cocks in the short connections are only used when' it is desired to cut out ofoperation two of the stillsas hereinbefore referred to, being then employed to'cut off such two stills from communication with theirneighbors. V The arrangement of the connections is such that those connections 19 which occurat'the front of theapparatus are theconnections bers of the respective pairs of stills which are '1 20 which unite among others the individual m'emat'timeiasexplztined, by'pairscut out cro eration. v a i i V g As there is no necessityforcutting cur conn'e'ction between the two members of; such? a pair, the connections which unite the-Inembers of such 'respective'pairs are not provided v with cocks, and are placedat the front ofj' the battery of stills.

The advantageof this arrangement is that all the cocks in the short connections arearranged at the'rear of the stills" where theiheat is considerably less than at the "front,

As hereinbefore explained, the heating mechanism or fire chamber of each still is controllable independently of, and is unafiected by,those of the other stills, and as aresult of this arrangement,of course,the difierent stills may be maintained constantly each at its own temperature such as will insure the best results.

The arrangement of the fire chambers, regulating sections 21, and stills is such that the fire and products of combustion cannot come into contact with the walls of the stills above the level of the liquid therein. This is especially important where oil of the grade termed fifty per cent. oil and oils below such percentage are being operated upon, inasmuch as it enables the still walls above the liquid level to remain at a comparatively low temperature to occasion the cooling ofi of the vapor and to promote decomposition.

In the form of apparatus shown in Figure 6 I illustrate a modified arrangement of short connections. The short connections therein referred to are designated 32. Said short connections 32 correspond in general location and arrangement with the short connections 19 shown in plan view in Fig. 1, connecting successive pairs of the stills at alternately opposite ends thereof.

Each short connection 32 is at its respective extremities provided with branches which lead into the interiors of the respective stills connected.

The receiving branch of each such connection is at its inner end provided with a vertically arranged feeder pipe 33 the upper end of which extends to a point above the desired liquid level in the still in which it is situated and the other to a point in the vicinity of the bottom of said still.

Both ends of said feeder pipes 33 are open, and the bodies of said pipes are in direct communication with the interiors of the receiving branches of said short connections 32. In this construction the oil is taken from the bottoms of the several stills to supply the.

succeeding stills.

The preferred form of short connection, however, is that shown in connection with the two right hand stills of Figure 3, in which the receiving regulator pipe 21 of each is equipped with ;a sleeve 35 encircling it and making a liquid tight connection with the receiving branch. The said sleeve, which acts as a feed controller, is open 'as to both ends, one end extendinginto the vapor space above the liquid level, and the other to a point near the bottom of the still.

In this arrangement while the liquid level inside the sleeve will be the same as that outside, all liquid within the sleeve will gain access thereto through its lower end, and all liquid drawn from the still through the pipe 211will thus be taken from the bottom of said sti l.

The mouth of the pipe 21 constitutes the outlet from the still and controls the liquid level therein to the extent that the liquid is not in the ordinary operation of the apparatus drawn. down to a level below that of said mouth.

I do not claim herein or seek to cover the method of distilling petroleum herein outlined and which is adapted to he carried on in apparatus described, as such method forms the subject of an application for United States Letters Patent executed by me, and filed in the Patent Office contemporaneously herewith as serial number 71,334, dated August 8, 1901.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a series of distinct and independent stills; of a series of pipe connections which unite said stills in a continuous series; said connections each comprising an oil outlet from one still and an oil inlet to another still; said outlet having a regulating section arranged to adjustably determine the liquid level in the still associated therewith, substantially as set forth.

2. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a series of distinct and independent stills; of a series of pipe connections which unite said stills in a continuous series; said connections each comprising an oil outlet from one still and an oil inlet to another still; said connections being exterior to the stills and having inletand outlet branches opening upon the interiors of the respective stills connected thereby, and, the outlets being at diflerent levels in the respective stills, substantially as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination With a series of distinct and independent stills; of pipe connections which unite said stills in adjoining pairs; said connections being exterior to the stills and having inlet and outlet branches opening upon the interiors of the respective stills connected thereby; and, the outlets occupying progressively lower levels in the successive stills, substantially as set forth.

4:. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a group of stills; ofa series of pipe connections which unite said stills in a continuous series; said connections having inlet and outlet branches opening upon the interiors of the respective stills connected thereby; said outlet branches having vertical extensions within the respective stills, the mouths of which extensions are located at the points of the desired liquid levels therein; and, feed regulating sleeves respectively encircling said extensions and each opening both near the bottom and above the liquid level in the still local thereto, substantially as set forth.

5. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a series of stills; of a series of short pipe connections which unite said stills, each to its nearest neighbor, in a continuous series, and, a series of long pipe connections structurally independent of each other and of said short pipe connections, arranged to unite non-adjacent stills and being disconnected from the intermediate stills, substantially as set forth.

6. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a series of stills; of pipe connections which unite said stills in a continuous series and determine the liquid levels in the respective stills and extending partly around the same; and, fire chambers located beneath saidstills; the constructions and arrangement of said fire chambers and said pipe connections being such that the flames and products of combustion are maintained out of contact with those portions of the Walls of the stills which exist above their respective liquid levels, substantially asset forth.

7. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a group of stills; of pipe connections respectively uniting said stills in pairs forming a continuous series; and means for regulating and controlling the flow of oil through the stills, and maintaining the liquid levels at predetermined graduated heights in the individual stills of the series, substantially as set forth.

8. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a group of stills; of pipe connections respectively uniting said stills, in pairs, forming a continuous series; and means connected to said pipe connections for regulating and controlling the flow of oil through the stills, and maintaining the liquid levels at predetermincd graduated heights in the individual stills ofthe series, substantially as set forth.

9. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a group of structurally distinct and independent stills; of pipes which respectively connect adjoining pairs of said stills to form a continuous series; aseparate fire chamberbeneath each still; and, lines, extending through one or more of the stills of the series below the liquid level therein, and connecting the fire chambers of the stills in which they are located, with conveyors or stacks for the products of combustion, substantially as set forth.

10. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a group of stills; of pipe connections by which adjoining individual stills are connected in pairs to form a continuous series; means for supplying oil to the first still of the series; a

heating coil located in the firststill of the series; means for precisely controlling the heating effect of said coil; and, separate fire chambers respectively located beneath the remaining stills of the series, substantially as set forth.

11. In an apparatus for continuously distilling petroleum, the combination with a group of stills; of pipe connections between the adjoining stills, each having an outlet from one still and an inlet to another still; each of said outlets comprising a vertical pipe whose opposite ends open respectively near the bottom and above the liquid level in the still local thereto, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingias myinventionI have hereunto signed my name this 23d day of July, A. D. 1901.

MAX LIVINGSTON. In presence of- S. SoLoME BROOKE,

THOS. K. LANCASTER. 

